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Right before Tommy has a chance to really answer, the waiter does flit on over and ask us what we’d like to have for drinks or food. I haven’t really bothered to look at the menu, and neither has Tommy, so we just ask Jake to order something he thinks we might enjoy, and leave it at that. Right after our waiter disappears to take our order back to the kitchen, some other guy in a bunch of sparkly clothes gets up on the stage and starts announcing some kind of show. Some kind of music or dance routine about to start shortly.
“What happened?” Jake presses the issue again, making sure to keep Tommy on track.
“She sexually assaulted me,” says Tommy. “She pulled a gun on me and tried to rape me, okay?”
Now it’s Jake’s turn to match Tommy’s pale color. It’s even worse than his, as even his lips drain of color, not just his cheeks. “Oh, no, no, no,” he says, “no, no, no, that cannot be allowed to go unreported.” He looks at me, then at Tommy. “What are you guys doing here? You should be back at the office, reporting this to HR or the police.” The way his eyebrows knit together, the way he partially scowls at us, it’s like we’re the irresponsible ones. “With all the rumors going around, with all the image trouble McKenzie Tech has already been having…” He stops, sighs. “It needs to be stopped. Nipped in the bud. Vanacore along with it. She cannot be allowed to cost your company what’s left of its reputation.” He drags his hands down his face, just as the waiter comes back with our drinks — simple beers in green bottles.
“We are here, Jake, because it’s not safe for Tommy to be there right now. And, since I was the one who’s been driving him into work all this week, I had to be the one to get him out of the office. And I’ll have to be the one to get him home, but that’s beside the point.” I pause, wiping my own hands down my face. “I came here with him to try to get away for a while. Come up with a plan. And then I see you sitting here. So you’ve got to help us, Jake. You’ve got to figure out some way to help me manage this for Tommy and for everyone at McKenzie Tech.”
I crack open Tommy’s beer for him, and he chugs it. I don’t bother to tell him to slow down or go easy on it, even though I want to. I know in his mental and emotional state, he’s not going to listen. He’s not going to care.
I crack open mine and sip at it, though I’m shaking just as bad as Tommy was, and probably still is.
Jake rakes his hands down his face again, and then through his hair before answering. When he does, it’s exactly what I would expect a lawyer to do, even on his lunch break. “These bits of sexual harassment and now sexual assault that Tommy’s alleging, did you Ben witness to any of it, Melissa? Can you be counted on as a witness?”
“Yes,” I say. “I heard the attempted rape over the phone. Tommy had the foresight to dial out of his office to my number and try to catch some of it somewhere other than the walls of that room.” I pause, feeling sick to my stomach all over again. “That’s when I sprang into action and tried to do anything and everything I could to disrupt what I heard Vanacore trying to do. I tried to do that by calling her office.”
As our food arrives — a family-style platter of basically fried foods greatest hits, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, fries, and homemade pizza bites — Jake lets out a stressed, measured breath. “And your relationship? Does anyone know about it? Depending on the answer, this could prove helpful or problematic to what I’m going to do with this information.”
“No one to my knowledge is aware—”
“Except for Vanacore,” snaps Tommy. “She knows. Told me she knew about it for the whole week and was just not letting on until she could get to me, wreck me, and any future with her.” His eyes glance at me.
Jake groans. “That’s going to really mess things up, especially with you working under her, Tommy.” He pauses, picking up an onion ring, and biting carefully into it. How he manages to do all that without burning his mouth, I’ll never know. “This is going to make it complicated. It’s going to make it easy for Vanacore to imply that you and Melissa have something going on as well, and could use that to her advantage when defending herself against your claims.”
“I’ve got proof,” snaps Tommy again, as if he’s almost momentarily forgotten how the law works. He takes out his phone and shakes it at Jake. “I’m not claiming anything.”
